A 28-year-old university lecturer in Bangladesh was today sentenced to a seven-year imprisonment for threatening to kill prime minister Sheikh Hasina and defaming her on Facebook.

A 28-year-old university lecturer in Bangladesh was on Thursday sentenced to a seven-year imprisonment for threatening to kill prime minister Sheikh Hasina and defaming her on Facebook.

Hafizur Rahman Rana was handed down the jail term in absentia by Dhaka's Metropolitan Sessions Judge Zahurul.

"BUET (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology) lecturer Hafizur Rahman Rana has been sentenced to seven years of imprisonment under the Information and Communication Technology Act and Penal Code," a court official said.

Rana, who went into hiding after obtaining a bail, reportedly called Hasina a "hyena" and sought his death in the Facebook posting in April this year.

However, the junior professor of mechanical engineering department of the leading technology university earlier claimed he had actually sought elimination of corruption and misrule and the animal named in the posting was not meant for Hasina.

Under the verdict, the sentence would be counted from the day he would be arrested or give in to serve the term.

He is the second Bangladeshi to face punitive action for threatening the PM on Facebook.